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When Prospect contributing writer Richard Rothstein penned a critical review of Sheryll Cashin's book, Place Not Race: A New Vision of Opportunity in America (Beacon), it touched off a debate between the principals in an exchange of letters on The American Prospect website. Mark Thompson, host of the SiriusXM Progress show, Make It Plain, invited the rivals to take their debate live on the August 5 edition of the program.
In her book, Cashin argues for a new approach to affirmative action in college admissions, one that gives primacy to circumstances other than race, including family wealth, proximity of the family home to high-poverty areas, and other measures of need.
Thompson was joined in moderating the debate by Prospect Senior Editor Adele Stan, who appears on the program on Tuesday nights.
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